Bakhtin's "Theory" of Genre

An Introduction to Genre Theory

A number of perennial doubts plague genre theory. Are genres really 'out there' in the world, or are they merely the constructions of analysts? Is there a finite taxonomy of genres or are they in principle infinite? Are genres timeless Platonic essences or ephemeral, time-bound entities? Are genres culturebound or transcultural?... Should genre analysis be descriptive or proscriptive? (Stam 200...

Genre theory and family resemblance - revisited *

In the following discussion I will examine the application of Wittgenstein’s concept of family resemblance to genre theory. Despite its popularity among literary theorists, there is sometimes a discrepancy between the loose concept of family resemblance, at least in its negative-radical version, and the practical assumptions made about genres. In order to overcome the inadequacies of existing a...

Classical Genre in Theory and Practice

It was once believed that the ancients invented and perfected certain genres and that the works they left might serve as models for later writers. Today belief in ideal patterns is a distant memory, and our interest in genre takes other forms. Classicists, by engaging with the specific problems presented by Greek and Roman literature and with the speculative discourse taking place throughout li...

Scholarly blogging practice as situated genre: an analytical framework based on genre theory

Introduction. Examines how an analytical framework of situated genre analysis can be used to study how research blogs are constructed and used as tools in scholarly communication. Method. A framework was extracted from genre research theories consisting of four concepts: aim, form, content and context. The term situated genre was used to focus on social practices. The context was further elabor...

A Theory of Genre: Romance, Realism, and Moral Reality